


A Gallows Tale: Behind Closed Doors

by Mistress Drossel Keinz (Code_Archangel_exe)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Blushing, Circle Mages, Circle of Magi, Dalish Elves, Embarrassment, F/M, Free Marches (Dragon Age), Gallows Humor, Humor, Kirkwall (Dragon Age), Mages, Mages and Templars, Major Original Character(s), Minor Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Templar Cullen Rutherford, Templars, The Circle, The Gallows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 07:08:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20060023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Code_Archangel_exe/pseuds/Mistress%20Drossel%20Keinz
Summary: A story about a mage named Leandera and her life I the Kirkwall Gallows.How will she deal with the constant dripping, the templar abusing her, and the one in love with her?Will she break the rules she has followed all her life, or remain under the constant oppression she has come to be familiar with?Only time will tell..





	A Gallows Tale: Behind Closed Doors

It was a quiet night in the Gallows of Kirkwall. All was silent except for the continuous dripping of a faucet. Drip, drop. The quiet night seemed hardly quiet to Leandera. Several times now her sink has been fixed, yet the constant irritant of a leaky faucet seems to be an unavoidable hell. Just one more drop.. How much more of this can I take? It took every ounce of self restraint she had accumulated over the years she had been in the Gallows to prevent her from freezing the water in the pipes solid. All it would take is a single word and a quick gesture of the hand, and her problem would be solved. Yet even such a small incident would no doubt lead to a punishment far greater than her current concern. 

Leandera was an average girl for the age of 18, though she may sometimes be described as a bit of troublemaker despite her unwillingness to admit causing any trouble. Freezing the water would cause no harm to herself, nor to anyone around her, yet upon asking the tit of a templar that seems to so much enjoy prowling about outside her quarters, the most of a reason she could get of his was an annoyed "Because I said so." Such is the life of any mage unlucky enough to be placed in the Circle in Kirkwall, where your rules resulting in extreme discipline are set by some prowling tit with a lingering eye who just so happens to be perhaps the worst person she had ever met at coming up with excuses. He's probably got that stick so far up his arse right about now that there's no room to find an excuse, she remarked to herself, straining to suppress a giggle from exiting her lips.

If only she had listened to her dear father James Alard some years ago. He had had warned her often to refrain from using magic outside their lessons, yet her witty and sharp-tongued disposition had led her to simply respond that she 'would not worry as she was far too intellectual and crafty to be caught'. She had been wrong. Her beautiful golden locks that ever so perfectly flows to the small of her back combined with the intensity of her icy gray eyes and untarnished pale skin had given her somewhat of a resemblance to that of a porcelain doll, garnering her the attention of many, only to be intensified by her impeccable charm. A girl at the ripe age of fifteen with her talents would be all but impossible to ignore, and it was for good or ill. The final words spoken from her father would never leave her: "I love you dear girl, but I cannot help you now." She screamed at him with words of hatred, why would he not do something, anything to help her? What could he do? She already new the answer deep down. Nothing at all.

She had recently learned of his passing two weeks ago. A terrible mining accident had claimed the life of her father whom she had been unable to contact during her time here. Nearly four years had passed since since then with her nineteenth birthday fast approaching in that of a mere three days. All that she had yet possessed of him was a lyrium etched ring. She would not remove it again, she hadn't before. 

She now lies on her bed, fondling her ring gently as a few tears manage to escape her eyes proceeding to roll down her cheeks in a delicate stream. Her rest would not last long before she heard the dreaded call she awaits every night. "Night check! Everyone wait your turn. We shall proceed one at a time tonight!" That was the voice of Knight-Captain Cullen proceeding down the corridor. She quickly dried her tears, standing quickly to straighten her robe. I wonder who will do my check tonight, she thought to herself. Please don't let it be him. She shuddered at the thought. Vernon was nearly twice her age and had given her nothing but looks of pure disgust and words laced with venomous hatred.

Lost in her thoughts, she had almost unnoticed the soft knock upon her door opening gently. "Lady Leandera?" she nearly jumped at the unusual politeness of a voice behind her. She quickly turned around to find the owner of this unfamiliar soft voice. "Sorry to startle you my lady, forgive me for my sudden entry." he bowed slightly. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sir Dorian Tavers, but, ah.. You may call me Dorian if you wish."

She quickly blinked. Dorian was a young man, most likely her age if not a few years older. He was rather tall and slender, though quite fit if she dare so say herself, with a slender face possessing an undeniable beauty and an utmost air of grace in every gesture, dawning in every feature he displayed. He had deep blue eyes resembling that of the most pure and radiant pools of water, his ebony hair falling gently over his right eye, the rest swooping back to the left. "What happened to Vernon?" she asked, attempting to hide the obvious admiration from her cheeks as her eyes gazed upon the pure beauty of the man before her. "Right," he quickly replied, "I almost forgot! Vernon had recently decided to resign, says he wants to become an explorer apparently, though i find that a bit hard to believe from what I've heard about the man." He chuckled lightly. "I will be your full time guard from now on." 

She blinked a few times in surprise. "Is something the matter my lady?" he asked gently, a look of concern crossing his face. Leandera quickly looked away, her cheeks dusting pink in embarrassment. "Ah.. no! N-nothing is wrong Si- Dorian!" He calmly approached her closer. "If nothing is wrong, then why are you looking away?" He gently placed his armored fingers upon her cheek, carefully turning her face to meet his gaze. "My lady! Are you sick? Your cheeks are rather flushed!" She slowly turned her eyes to meet his gaze as calmly as she could manage. "It's okay! I'm fine, I promise!" For a moment they had remained completely still, their eyes meeting each other's gaze with unwavering attention.

Suddenly, Cullen's voice once again rang throughout the hall. "Alright now, let's go you lot! Lights out!" Dorian quickly removed his hand from Leandera's face and looked away. "Well, umm.. I shall see you again in the morrow my lady." With a quick bow he took his leave, quickly shutting the door behind him. Leandera was rather stunned. What was this feeling she had? What had just happened? Did Dorian have this feeling too?! Too many thoughts were rushing through her head. She sat on her bed attempting to calm herself before lying down to rest. After much time of tossing and turning, she had eventually managed to drift off to sleep.

"Alright the lot of you, Breakfast!" Cullen woke us like this every morning. I wonder if I could work on my electricity spells today she wondered, I somehow still manage to fry the wrong target.. She quickly brushed her hair, putting it into a messy bun before changing into a fresh change of clothes. After she finished dressing she stood to wait for Dorian to unlock her. The wait wasn't long before she once again heard that distinct knock of his and the door slowly opened just as it had the night before. He saw her and smiled.

His smile was bright and warm. Without even noticing, Leandera found herself smiling in return. "Right this way to the Dining Hall," he said, gently placing his hand behind her back to shut the door. "Thank you once again Sir Dorian," she beamed. He frowned slightly, "Please, it's just Dorian my lady, Sir Dorian was my father." She giggled quietly before quickly apologizing. "It's just Leandera, my lady was a noblewoman." He let a quiet chuckle escape himself before replying. "As you wish, my Leandera-" He then realized what he had said as a blush quickly appeared on both their cheeks. "Ah.. um.." he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment before continuing, "That.. Ah, that didn't come out quite right. I am.. I started to say- but then I-" Leandera spoke up before he could finish. "It's- well, I know what you meant. It's okay Dorian, everyone makes mistakes." She smiled before quickly heading towards her table calling over her shoulder that she would see him later, giving him a bright smile and a small wave before receiving a warm smile and small wave in return. 

She quickly sat down and not a second later her best friend Rylen joined the seat next to her. "Gods, I haven't slept that horrible since that one time I woke up up surrounded by wolves!" Rylen exclaimed as he plopped down and stretched chuckling to himself before digging into his scrambled eggs. Leandera giggled at her blond and messy-haired comedic Elven friend. His tales of adventuring were always hilarious, even when he found himself misfortune, perhaps even more so in that case. The two had been friends since the day they had met, Leandera arriving to the circle herself only a week after him. Rylen had been the first Dalish mage to ever be placed in Kirkwall's Circle after being caught using magic while on a hunt. Templars had been searching the area for an escaped apostate, they found him instead.

"Sorry to hear that Rylen, I can't say I had much luck myself with that blasted faucet going on and on all night. Rylen laughed at that. "It's still dripping? would have just frozen the damned thing by now. Maybe a fireball if I was feeling ballsy. It wouldn't much help anything, sure would de-stress me a bit though." Leandera sighed, "I wish I could Rylen, I wish I could." "Which one, freeze or fire?" "Honestly, why not both? I could care less at this point." Rylen nearly choked on his bread with laughter. "Right, right.. Little miss follow the rules is who I'm talking to, I forgot that for a bit. Wouldn't want to feel that wrath of the men with the pointy sticks you know?" 

Most people would have taken this as an offence, but over the years Leandera had gotten used to Rylen's constant teasing and his fearless rambunctiousness. Normally she would have come back with a witty remark of her own, but not today. Leandera's eyes were too fixated on a certain table across the hall. Despite being new, Dorian seemed to become quite popular among his fellow templars. She could see him making pleasant conversation and telling telling jokes, laughing lightheartedly from time to time. Even Cullen had let out the occasional chuckle.

"Thedas to Leandera, hello there?" Leandera quickly snapped out of her thoughts and stared blankly at Rylen. "Which one is it?" Rylen questioned, turning his neck to scan the templars. Leandera was embarrassed, he saw right through her. The reddening of her cheeks as she stared at Rylen ruined any chance she had at denying it."Leandera. You know I know you, now stop blushing at my sheer Elven beauty and tell me which big bad templar you want to punish you for being a naughty little mage~" That snapped her back rather instantly. "Rylen! You can't just shout things like that!" Rylen nearly fell over laughing, the look on her face was perfection, and completely red now too. "So I was right?" he said, still laughing hysterically."You- y-you.." he could barely speak between his seemingly endless laughter. "-Like a templar!" After a few more grueling moments he had finally managed to calm down, readjusting himself on his seat.

Before either could manage to speak, they noticed Dorian standing in front of them. "My lad- Leandera, might I ask what's so funny? I'm glad I came over here before Cullen." He took a deep breath, Leandera managed to sneak a glance over at Cullen's intensely glaring form before quickly reverting her eyes back to Dorian. "Umm, ah.. I-" Rylen quickly interjected her stuttering. "Lea just told me the most outrageous joke! I thought I was going to die of laughter for a while there!" Leandera nodded, the burning of her cheeks seemingly depriving her of words. Rylen noticed, giving her a quick nod before continuing. "I'll tell the joke if you don't mind sir," Before Dorian could get the chance to speak he had already began.

"So an Elven maiden walks into the brothel for a drink. Next think you know, a gentleman walks up to her and lays three sovereigns in front of her. She looked the man in the eyes and said 'What will you be having today', the man grinned and simply says 'your sweet arse'. She puts the money in her pocket and tells the man to go up stairs and pick a room while she gets ready. Ten minutes later, she walks in leading a donkey and says 'my girl here is the sweetest arse in the Marches' walks out of the room and leaves, all the while the man is standing there, pants dropped and staring at a mule!" Rylen bursts out laughing once again with just as much force as he had laughed with earlier, Leandera and Dorian joining in as well. Leandera honestly thought that Rylen's insane laughter was funnier than the joke. Dorian let out one last chuckle before letting out a simple wave back to them as he walked back to his table. 


End file.
